There are 10,701 people in emergency accommodation in Dublin alone – a 14pc year-on-year increase.
According to latest figures from the Department of Housing, there were 2,133 families accessing emergency accommodation in September including 4,561 children under the age of 18.
The Dublin Simon Community has warned that the figures account only for those accessing emergency accommodation and do not include those sleeping rough, individuals in domestic violence shelters, refugees, or asylum seekers on the streets.
“The lack of an integrated response by the Government is one of, if not the, key issue with today’s record numbers. Since the Dáil was last dissolved in 2020, homelessness has increased by 41pc,” said Catherine Kenny, CEO of Dublin Simon Community, which provides accommodation for over 1,200 men, women and children per night in the capital.
“With the confirmation of an election before Christmas, the people affected by this crisis, homeless or at risk, can only watch from the margins to see if they will be a priority for the next Government.
“Today’s record-breaking figures, combined with those at risk of losing their home or those who cannot afford one, need to be the highest priority in national and local Government solutions to homelessness.”
She warned that the demands on emergency accommodation will only increase as temperatures drop in the coming months.
Focus Ireland has called on the next Government to make a “radical shift” in housing policy.
“With homelessness rising virtually every month for the last three years, the Government seems to have concluded that this is a problem that cannot be solved and no new measures are needed,” said CEO Pat Dennigan.
“Homelessness was not even referred to in the main budget speeches. But there is plenty of evidence of policies can make a difference and homelessness is a solvable problem.
“Irish people understand that our homeless problem is the extreme end of the housing crisis that is impacting on families right across the country, and they want to see action to tackle it, This is why Focus Ireland is calling for greater ambition from the Government.”
Social Democrats TD Cian O’Callaghan, who is the party spokesperson on housing, said the Government has broken the homelessness record for the 23rd time.
“Out of the 52 monthly homeless reports during this Government’s tenure, homelessness has increased 41 times and a new record has been set 23 times,” he said.
“It is important we do not lose sight of what these statistics mean. Every time someone becomes homeless a life is devastated. Every child growing up without a home is a tragedy.
“Thousands are being forced to go through this trauma while the Government has a €25 billion budget surplus. It is cruel and completely unacceptable.
“The depressing familiarity of this record being broken is an indictment of this Government’s legacy.”
According the the latest report from the Department of Housing, 699 households, including 862 adults and 327 families exited emergency accommodation with the last three months.
